Filing systems for documents



y 1962 R. A. E. GUICHARD FILING SYSTEMS FOR DOCUMENTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 5. 1957 MAL United States Patent 3,034,511 FILING SYSTEMS FOR DOCUMENTS Raymund A. E. Guichard, Paris, France, assignor t0 Arianex, Paris, France, a body corporate of France Filed Aug. 5, 1957, Ser. No. 676,068 Claims priority, application France Aug. 9, 1956 4 Claims. (Cl. 129-16) Vertical filing devices have already been proposed in which the folders or separators, instead of being suspended by their upper edge, are rested at their lower edge on conveniently arranged supporting surfaces. Such folders are accessible both at their upper edge and at their ends, and present the particular advantage of being able to open much further than suspended folders, which facilitates both the insertion of documents which they are to receive, and examination of their contents, without having to remove them from the folder in which they are placed.

The present invention concerns improvements in fixing bars which serve to secure the leaves of folders and separators of this kind on their supporting surface, and it also concerns their means of connection with the leaves, with the purpose on the one hand of making manufacture cheaper and on the other hand of facilitating their handling, by permitting a large inclination of the folders or separators in consequence of a particular arrangement of means by which each leaf is connected to its fixing bar.

In the following description and claims the Word separator is used as a generic term for folders and separators.

Locking means are provided between the leaf and the bar, so as to fix with precision the relative position of these two components in the longitudinal direction, to ensure a perfect alignment of labels carried by the front edge of each leaf. These means are, in addition, preferably so made that two different positions of the leaf relative to its fixing bar are obtainable, according to whether one or other of the end edges of the leaf is towards the front.

In a construction previously proposed, the fixing bar was assembled with the leaf by threading it through a series of openings made in the latter, the said bar passing alternately over one face and the opposite face of the leaf. Such a method of assembly, although effective, nevertheless has the disadvantage of not being rapid. Moreover since the fixing bar is more rigid than the card of which 1 the leaf itself is generally made, there is the risk also of causing a Waviness in the leaf, which spoils the appearance, and is liable also to interfere with inclining the leaf when one wishes to reach the documents divided by it.

The present invention effectively remedies these disadvantages. In fact, it permits an almost instantaneous assembly of the bar and the leaf. The leaf may be very considerably inclined. Moreover, the relatively costly operation of forming openings in the leaf to receive the bar is dispensed with. Its strength is thus correspondingly increased.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, showing an example of a practical construction. In these drawings:

FIGURE 1 shows, in fragmentary side elevation with parts in section, a separator for vertical filing according to the invention in position of use;

FIGURE 2 is a corresponding rear elevation;

FIGURE 3 is a view sim lar to FIGURE 1, but showing only the fixing bar, in disengaged position;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation of the lower part of the leaf alone;

FIGURE 5 is a longitudinal section of the fixing bar alone;

FIGURE 6 is a pian of this bar;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of part of a filing cabinet.

Each horizontal row of classified documents 21, divided up by the separator leaves 1, rests on a series of horizontal transverse supporting members 2, 3, 4 and5 made of metal section and forming part of a frame of the cabinet 23.

Each leaf 1 is secured on these transverse members by means of a bar 6, preferably made of metal strip, which is resiliently flexible in the plane of the leaf. The bar is bent at its rear end to form a return piece 7, and bent at its front end to form a hook '8.

In the example shown in the drawings, the leaf 1 consists of a card gripped at its bottom edge in a strip 10 which is preferably metallic, but may also be for example made of a plastic material. The strip is rigid in the plane of the leaf. At its lower edge, the strip '10 has an integral tongue 11, lying in the central part of the strip, and also two tongues 12 and 13 near its ends. Each of these endmost tongues 12 and 13 has hook means 12a, 13a thereon, as shown in FIGURE 4, extending laterally from the tongues 12, 13 in a common direction, viz. to the right as seen in FIGURE 4.

The separator has end edges 18 and 19 the upper portions of which are inclined to the vertical and substantially parallel to one another. Either edge may be turned to the front according to the height of the row of documents, to facilitate reading a label such as 22 (FIGURE 7) which may be attached to the edge.

The bar 6 has, in its central part, two slots 14 and 15, in one or other of which the tongue 11 is engaged, according to whether the end edge 18 or 19 of the leaf 1 is turned towards the front. The bar 6 also has two other slots 16 and 17 at the ends, corresponding to the hooklike tongues 12 and 13. As shown in FIGURE 6, all the slots 14, 15, 16, 17 extend in a common plane longitudinally of the bar.

To assemble the leaf 1 with the fixing bar 6, with the end edge 18 foremost, the two hook-like tongues 12, 13 are first engaged in the corresponding slots 16 and 17. Then the separator is slid lightly to the front relatively to the bar, i.e. to the right as seen in FIGURE 1, to carry the hook-like tongues 12 and 13 to their locking position shown in that figure, in which each hook means 12a, 13a extends axially of and under the bar beyond the adjacent end wall 16a, 17a of the corresponding end-most slot. During this movement the leaf is slightly bent laterally so that the tongue 11 bears against the edge of the bar. At the end of the movement, the tongue 11 is abreast of the slot 15. It is then suflicient to press lightly downwards on the bar and then release it, to cause the tongue 11 to enter the slot 15, thus securing the leaf longitudinally with respect to the bar. In this position the tongues extend perpendicularly downwardly through the slots, and the end wall 16b, 17b of each end-most slot is separated from the tongue 12, 13 by an open space in the slot 16, 17 having an axial extent at least equal to the axial extent of the hook means 12a, 13a beyond the end wall 16a, 17a. In fact, in the example shown, each of the end-most tongues 12, 13 engages the adjacent end Wall 16a, 16b, and has a combined axial extent with that of the hook means thereon substantially equal to the axial extent of its respective end-most slot. The axial extent of the intermediate slot 15 and the axial extent of the intermediate tongue 11 are substantially equal so as to prevent relative longitudinal movement of the leaf and the bar. The intermediate slot and tongue are so spaced from each of the end-most slots and tongues that flexing of the bar in the plane of the intermediate tongue disengages the bar therefrom and enables relative longitudinal movement of the leaf and the bar through the open space in each end-most slot thereby l Patented May 15, 1962' bringing the end-most tongues and slots into alignment to permit separation of the leaf and thebar.

If the leaf is to be mounted the opposite Way, that is to say with its end edge 19 turned towards the front, the fixing is carried out by lightly sliding the leaf towards the rear, i.e. to the left, in the drawing, relatively to the fixing bar, and then the tongue 11 is engaged not in the slot 15, but in the slot 14.

The two slots 14, are equally spaced from opposite sides of the median plane between the end-most slots 16, 17 perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bar. The positions of the tongue 11 and the two slots 14 and 15 are so chosen that the classified documents do not extend, at the front, beyond the end edge of the leaf despite the inclination given to this edge.

To insert the separator, thus provided with its fixing bar, into the filing system, it is first rested on the transverse supporting members 2, 3, and 4, in the position shown in FIGURE 3. The resilient front end of the bar is then lightly curved downwards, as shown in FIGURE 3, and the whole assembly is displaced towards the front, until the return piece 7 comes into engagement with a flange of the member -2, at the same time as the hook 8 comes beneath a flange 9 of the member 5. The front end is then released, thus fixing the separator in a proper position.

To disengage it and remove it from the filing system, it is sufiicient to repeat the same operations in the opposite direction.

The drawings show clearly that the hook-like tongues 12, 13 and the tongue 11 lie in line, and so do the slots 16, 14, 15 and 17 in the fixing bar. Moreover, the slots are a little wider transversely of the bar than are the tongues. Hence there is no resistance to easy swinging of the leaf about this line acting as pivot axis through about 60 as shown in FIGURES 2 and 7, the tongues 11, 12 and 13 then moving correspondingly beneath the fixing bar 6, without any risk of separation of that bar and the leaf.

It will be observed that the lateral bulk of the device constructed according to the invention is practically limited to the thickness of the gripping strip 10.

As alternatives the leaf 1 may be metallic or made of plastic material, in which case the two hook-like tongues 12, 13 as well as the tongue 1-1v may be made directly on its lower edge, which makes the use of a gripping strip 10 unnecessary.

Of course, the invention is not limited to details of the construction described here simply by way of non-limiting example. The shape and size of the members 2, 3, 4 and 5, of the gripping strip -10 and of the fixing bar 6, as Well as those of the hook-like tongues 12, 13 and the tongue 11 may, as Well as those of the return part 7 and the hook 8, depart from those shown in the drawings, without by so doing going outside the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a vertical filing device having horizontal supporting means, a separator comprising a horizontal flexible bar removably engaging said supporting means, and a leaf having a substantially rigid bottom edge disposed above said bar in a substantially vertical plane and forming the main body of the separator, said bar having three slots therein extending in a common plane longitudinal of the bar and in spaced relation to one another, said bottom edge of said leaf having three tongues thereon extending perpendicularly downwardly through the slots, each of the end-most of the three tongues having hook means thereon extending laterally from the tongue in a common direction axial of and under the bar beyond the adjacent end wall of the end-most slot through which the tongue extends, the opposite end wall of said endmost slotbeing separated from said tongue by an open space in the slot having an axial extent at least equal to the axial extent of said hook means beyond the adjacent end wall, the axial extent of the intermediate of the three slots and the axial extent of the intermediate of the three tongues being substantially equal so as to prevent relative longitudinally movement of the leaf and the bar and being so spaced from each of the end-most tongues and its respective end-most slot that flexing of the bar in the plane of the intermediate tongue disengages the bar therefrom and enables relative longitudinal movement of the leaf and the bar through the open space in each end-most slot thereby bringing the end-most tongues and slots into alignment to permit separation of the leaf and the bar.

2. A separator according to claim 1 wherein each of the end-most tongues engages said adjacent end Wall of its respective end-most slot and has a combined axial extent with that of the hook means thereon substantially equal to the axial extent of is respective end-most slot.

3. A separator according to claim 1 wherein the bar has a fourth slot therein extending in said common plane longitudinally of the bar and spaced from the first-named slots, said fourth slot constituting a second intermediate slot and being equally spaced with the first-named intermediate slot from opposite sides of the median plane between the end-rnost slots perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bar whereby the leaf is engageable with the bar in either of two opposing positions.

4. A separator according to claim 1 wherein the relative width of the three slots and the three tongues is such as to enable the leaf to pivot about the longitudinal axis of the bar through an arc of about References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,899,430 Wood Feb. 28, 1933 2,303,038 Freiberg Nov. 24, 1942 2,346,150 Brown Apr. 1 1, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 457,014 Great Britain Nov. 19, 1936 676,777 Germany June 10, 1939 661,455 Great Britain Nov. 21, 1951 1,088,961 France Sept. 22, 1954 

